Five Great Lunch Buffets to Keep You Away From CiCi's Pizza (Even When It's Free)

If you happen to be in the area Skillman and Northwest Highway, you may notice a bunch of hoopla over at a new CiCi's Pizza. This newest member of the chain is celebrating their grand opening, throwing a party with balloons, face painting -- the usual crap kids love -- including their pizza. As part of the promotion, they're also giving away free pizza once a month to the first 100 customers starting at 11 a.m.

Also, per the Lakewood Advocate, CiCi's promised to drop 100's of wallets "in the area" for residents to find a free coupon tucked inside. Imagine your palpitating heart when you find an orphaned wallet and think, "Payday! This is it!" and you get a CiCi's buffet coupon. That would just make me mad.

If you can't make it over nor do you find a wallet below in a hydrangea bush, consider yourself ... what's the word ... lucky? Instead, try one of these five buffet options, which are far more adventurous and, dare we say, yummy:

1. If pizza is what you're hankering for, try Johnny's Pizza House at 4145 Belt Line Road in Addison. Originally out of Monroe, Louisiana, the Johnny's Hog Heaven specialty pizza (photo above) should be all the inspiration you need -- it's loaded with ham, bacon, sausage, andouille and jalapeños. And the salad bar, for balance, is full of fresh veggies. Their lunch buffet is $6.99 for adults.

2. A couple of months ago, Whitney Filloon, who drew the shortest stick for being our Meatless Monday subject, wrote about Mumtaz's Indian lunch buffet at 216 W. Campbell Road in Richardson. Filloon swooned about the pillowy naan, expertly cooked rice pillau and "intensly tangy, neon red tamarind chutney and its emerald green mint counterpart." Plus, there are ample carnivorous options including, "chicken, chicken, goat and more chicken." The buffet rings in at $5.99 on Mondays and is two bucks more the rest of the week.

3. If you're into the old-school Dallas thing, Angelo's Italian Grill at 6341 La Vista in Lakewood is a quaint neighborhood spot and their lunch buffet will make you fat and happy. In addition to pizza, they always have lasagna, spaghetti and daily specials such as shrimp fettuccine or pork chops. Staples include Caesar and Greek salads, fresh fruit and desserts all for $8.69. Grab their lunch card and after six stamps, the seventh is free.

5. When the weather is phenomenal, like it is today, then you should hit Kalachandji's at 5430 Gurley Ave. Actually, last time I went it was a sweltering hot summer day and I still loved it. This restaurant is tucked inside a temple and offers an opulent, peaceful courtyard to dine in. The people are wonderful and while they stick to strict vegetarian fare, you won't realize it because the food is great. The experience is like no other in the city. The lunch and dinner buffet varies and is updated on their site daily.

Angelo's sucks now... an acquaintance of mine use to deliver for them and he'd actually eat the bread/marinara for customers on delivery runs(he ate whatever he thought he could get away w/). I guess most of the people didn't notice or complain since they were starving, waiting over an hour for a delivery. Still, kinda messed up... that's just how they run their business now. Not like it was back in the day...

I ate at CiCi's when it was $1.99 (and stuck with 'em at $2.99) since it was a cheap, cheap meal when that was what the budget allowed. It was never great pizza but it was a decent meal. But now they charge as much as the folks serving the good stuff so, no, I don't see why anybody still goes to CiCi's.

Cici's sucks ass. I doubt anyone that reads this blog ever eats there(except maybe Kergo). This is like saying, instead of Burger King, try ____________ . I've never tried Jonny's, but I'll put that on my things to do list.

I was a little upset when I saw the press for CiCi's in advocate. That may be unfair of me as it is news. However, if they looked a bit harder they could find some much more worthy (IMO) news that gives notice to restaurants that need/ought to have more. I appreciate this article. Especially the mention of Kalachandji's. I've had takeout from Angelo's a few times recently. The delivery time plays a big part don't get me wrong, but I wasn't very pleased. Seems to me to be just another mediocre red-sauce and cheese "Italian" place. Vietnam's cool, especially on a budget. I had a banh-mi that was like 3 bucks, and it was excellent for the price. I love that they are very generous with the herbs and sprouts served with pho.

I ate their in college just because it worked with my four dollar budget. We would order water, but get sprite instead. We actually got confronted about it once. They saw the bubbles from the carbonation. Get get anyting past them.